Algeria

Military Dictatorship

The system of power in 1993, like that between 1965 and 1978, was a military dictatorship with few legal institutions defining it. Following the coup of January 1992 that ousted Benjedid and eliminated constitutional rule, a collective presidency was established, responsible for implementing political authority. The national constitution has been suspended (a referendum on a new constitution and political structure was expected to be held in late fall 1993), so all political powers have been assumed on a de facto basis with almost no limitations.

High Council of State

The High Council of State (Haut Conseil d'État--HCE) is the official name for the collective presidency that governed Algeria in late 1993. A five-member council, it was presided over by Ali Kafi, a former War of Independence veteran and founding member of the FLN, serving as head of state. The prime minister was Redha Malek, a distinguished figure of the preindependence and postindependence periods, who served his country in several diplomatic posts including that of ambassador to the United States (1979-82); in the latter capacity he was instrumental in negotiating the release of United States hostages in Iran in 1981. The HCE replaced the High Security Council, the transitional government that assumed power immediately following the coup, and was dominated by military officials, although it has been marked by frequent changes of personnel. Its mandate was due to expire at the end of 1993, when it was scheduled to hand over power to a new transition government that would be entrusted with resuming the democratic process.

Data as of December 1993

Algeria - TABLE OF CONTENTS

Government and Politics

• POLITICAL ENVIRONMENT
  • Postindependence Politics and the Socialist Tradition
  • The Revolutionary Period and Independence
  • The "Heroic" Stage: Ben Bella's Regime, 1962-65
  • Boumediene and the Socialist Experiment
    • Council of the Revolution, 1965-75
    • Formation of the Second Algerian Republic, 1976-79
  • Recent Political Events
    • Political-Economic Liberalization under Benjedid, 1979-88
    • Democratization, October 1988-January 11, 1992
    • Return to Authoritarianism, January 11, 1992
• POLITICAL STRUCTURE AND PROCESSES
  • Structure of the National Government
    • Constitution
    • Executive: Presidential System
    • Legislative: National People's Assembly
  • Role of Political Parties
    • FLN Role
    • Legalization of Political Parties and Beginnings of a Pluralist System
    • Electoral System
  • Judicial System
    • Supreme Court
    • Provincial Courts
    • Tribunals
    • Military Tribunals
    • High Judicial Council
  • Local and Regional Government
  • Wilayat
  • Dawair
    • Communes
    • Municipal Government
• EFFECTIVE INSTITUTIONS
  • Political Configuration: The Army-Party-State Triangle
  • The Elite
  • Military Dictatorship
    • High Council of State
    • National Consultative Council
  • The Islamist Factor
    • The Islamist Movement since the Late 1980s
    • Role of the FIS
• CIVIL SOCIETY
  • The Algerian General Workers' Union and the Workers' Movement
  • Youth and Student Unions
  • The National Union of Algerian Farmers
  • The Entrepreneurial Class
  • Socialist Vanguard Party
  • The Women's Movement
  • The Press
  • The Arabization Movement
• FOREIGN POLICY
  • General Trends
  • Africa
    • The Maghrib
    • Sub-Saharan Africa
  • Arab and Middle East Affairs
  • The West
    • The United States
    • France and the Mediterranean Countries